Endless Love (2014) (Blu-ray)

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All Rise...

Judge Gordon Sullivan suffers from endless heartburn.

The Charge

A love worth fighting for.

Opening Statement

In general, I find remakes to be unnecessary, but the rare exception is
usually found in films aimed at adolescent viewers. Yes, I can shake my head and
"tut-tut" at "kids these days" not appreciating classics and needing every film
they watch to mention Twitter. But, one of the key features of adolescence is
tension between what's new to you and cliché to the rest of the world. That
first love, the first car, the first everything feels like a unique
experience never before seen and never to be repeated. Adults looking in from
the outside see another adolescent crush, another kid who can't drive, etc. But
in those moments it is important to maintain that sense of "this is mine and
nobody else's." So, even if a fine film from the past exists, it's difficult for
young viewers to feel like they own it, which, to a certain extent, justifies
them being remade. No contemporary teenager wants to admit to enjoying 1981's
Endless Love—it may be Tom Cruise's debut, but that guy's over 50
now and that's a bit weird. Instead, they get Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde
falling in love for the first time. For the 13-year-old crowd the film is aimed
at, it's perfect. To the rest of us, it's a snoozefest of the highest order.

Facts of the Case

Jade Butterfield (Gabriella Wilde, Carrie) just graduated high school.
She's going to go on to an internship before college and an eventual medical
degree. She's got controlling parents who are still reeling from the untimely
death of her brother. Into her world walks the working-class David (Alex
Pettyfer, Magic Mike), a member of
her graduating cohort who's been crushing on her for years. The two meet at
David's job, and he slowly starts to bring her out of her shell. Eventually they
fall in love, much to the consternation of Jade's parents.

The Evidence

Endless Love is a particular brand of romantic fantasy that is, like
most romance, aimed at women; young women in this case. It presents a world in
which the young protagonist is a very good girl until the perfect boy comes
along, and he will of course fall madly in love with her. Because he needs to
prove his love, her parents will be against their union, and in siding with her
new boyfriend against her parents, the young woman will assert her newly-adult
standing. Everything will work out in the end.

Because the film is aimed at teenagers and features teenagers, it has to
mirror the hormone-saturated world they live in, where every single moment is
heightened by it being the first. So even though Jade's parents are being fairly
sensible, it has to be a grand betrayal. Because she loves David it has to be an
Endless Love. I hope you get the picture. In that sense, the film
delivers on its PG-13 promises of romance, sexuality, and rebellion.

The film also get a pretty decent Blu-ray release. The film's 2.35:1/1080p
AVC-encoded image is suffused with the warm glow of first-love an early summer.
Colors are brilliantly saturated, and detail is strong throughout. Black levels,
especially when our young lovers are getting naked together, are deep and
consistent. Overall, the look of the film may be its best feature, and that gets
shown off to good effect here. The DTS-HD 5.1 track also captures every breathy
statement of devotion and balances it perfectly with the film's swelling,
swooning score. Surrounds get a bit of use during party scenes and the like, but
this is generally a pretty toned-down track.

Extras start with a fairly standard making-of featurette that gives viewers
a peek behind the scenes. Exclusive to the Blu-ray are an extended ending and a
set of deleted/extended/alternate scenes. They're inessential, but the target
demographic will appreciate them. There's also a DVD and Ultraviolet Digital
Copy of the film.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

For everyone outside the target demographic, Endless Love will just
seem endless. To appreciate the film, you have to believe a pair of teenagers
who barely know each other somehow recognize their love is endless. You have to
believe that parents are hypocrites who think they're protecting their children
even though they're really jerks. You have to believe that working class people
are automatically virtuous as adults, and that the upper class are automatically
the bad guys. If you can get over that, Endless Love is filled with
predictable, nonsensical plot points that pit David and Jade against her father
repeatedly until David has proven his love.

Two things really kill Endless Love for older viewers. The first is
that the film is painfully shallow. Yes, young love feels life-defining, but any
film that doesn't acknowledge that it can be overwhelming in a bad way just
doesn't fly in 2014. This didn't need to go all Fear and turn David into
a stalker. However, to not at least acknowledge that it's bit weird for him to
be crushing on her for four years without saying anything, or that she would
derail her whole life over a summer's romance just seems helplessly, hopelessly
naïve to anyone over 21, and likely many under 21 as well.

The other thing that really sinks Endless Love is the fact that
pretty much every one of the actors is sleepwalking through their part. There's
not a single iota of chemistry between Pettyfer and Wilde. Rumor has it that
Shields turned down the role in the original because her only job would be to
"look pretty," which is exactly the extent of Wilde's performance here. Pettyfer
is no better. He's nice to look at too, but they don't sell the romance between
them at all. Not even dancing together in the barely-lit parking lot elicits
even a touch of romance from them. The rest of the cast is no better, with the
adults largely letting stereotypes guide their performance, with Joely
Richardson as the alcoholic society wife and Robert Patrick as the
down-to-earth-mechanic. The lone exception is the surprisingly menacing Bruce
Greenwood as Jade's father, but even he's wasted on a role that doesn't ask much
of him.

Closing Statement

Endless Love will no doubt appeal to 13-year-olds for the next few
years as they navigate their way through adolescence. The film promises love
that is enduring and beautiful, if a bit hard-won, and all with the right guy
who's out there waiting. For everybody else, Endless Love is clichéd
and boring. Even the excellent Blu-ray doesn't recommend the film for even a
rental.